WASHINGTON – Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, who has held extensive hearings on offshore tax avoidance by profitable multinational corporations and authored legislation to crackdown on offshore tax abuse and corporations with hidden owners, issued the following statement about today’s declaration on combatting tax avoidance and promoting corporate transparency from the G8 leaders meeting in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland:
“For the first time, G8 countries have committed to making multinational corporations disclose the taxes they pay on a country by country basis, and to stop allowing companies to shift profits across borders to avoid taxes. The G8 countries also committed to requiring corporations to disclose their beneficial owners so that law enforcement and tax authorities know who is behind them. President Obama showed leadership, not only by helping put multinational corporate tax avoidance on the international agenda, but also by committing the United States to taking action to stop the abuses. I said before the summit that the G8 nations were poised to strike a hammer blow against offshore corporate tax avoidance. The G8 commitments made today, if carried out, can bring that hammer down.”